Travel Guide: Damascus Christian Quarter - Christmas in the Old City
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Summary: The eastern side of the UNESCO-listed old city of Damascus contains a long-standing Christian quarter with churches, alleys, shops, and Christmas decorations. This travel account preserves the source's route, neighborhood details, holiday atmosphere, food, and photographs.
In the eastern part of the ancient World Heritage city of Damascus, there is an old Christian quarter. It is divided into the Bab Tuma area in the northeast and the Bab Sharqi area in the east. This area is full of churches and many restaurants and shops run by Christians. You can even find places that sell alcohol and tattoo parlors. The streets here are relatively clean and tidy, which is very different from the busy markets in the western part of the old city.
I arrived in Damascus in December, and the Christian quarter had a very strong Christmas atmosphere. The Saint George Cathedral of the Syriac Orthodox Church hosts a Christmas market every night, and everyone is welcome to join.
Since 1959, the Saint George Cathedral in Damascus has served as the seat of the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, making it a very important site. The Syriac Orthodox Church holds to Miaphysitism. Its patriarch was removed by the Christian church in 518, and it gradually formed an independent church after that.
The seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch was originally near the ancient city of Mardin in southeastern Turkey. It moved to Homs, Syria, after 1933, and then to the Saint George Cathedral in Damascus in 1959. Its followers are mainly in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and India, with others scattered across Europe, America, and Oceania.
It is written that one should never forget the 1915 Ottoman genocide of the Assyrians. This was carried out by the Ottoman army and Kurdish tribes in the border region between Turkey and Iran during World War I, and Turkey still avoids this issue today.
Youths from the Syriac Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas inside the cathedral.
Besides the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church in Damascus also held a Christmas market at the Saint Theresa Church in the old Christian quarter.
The Chaldean Catholic Church is one of 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that use Eastern Christian rites but are in communion with the Pope. Its believers are mainly Assyrians, mostly living in northern Iraq. The Chaldean Catholic Church can be traced back to the Church of the East (Nestorianism). After the Church of the East was considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church in 431, the two remained divided. More than a thousand years later, in 1552, some members of the Church of the East from the border of Turkey and Iran opposed the hereditary system of the patriarchate. They elected another patriarch and went to Rome to discuss communion with the Pope. In 1553, the Pope in Rome appointed the first patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Over the next few centuries, the relationship between the Chaldean Catholic Church and Rome was on and off, often reverting to the Church of the East, until it finally entered into communion with the Catholic Church in 1830.
The road in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition inside the East Gate of Damascus must have the best Christmas decorations in the old city, and many young people come here to take photos.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus is the headquarters of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church that follows the Byzantine rite but is in communion with the Roman Curia. The church can be traced back to Greek-speaking Christians living in the Middle East during the Roman period. When Middle Eastern Christianity split in 451, they accepted the authority of the Council and the Byzantine Empire. In 1729, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church broke away from Constantinople and entered into communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Armenian Apostolic Church inside the East Gate of Damascus; Armenians arrived in Damascus during the Umayyad Caliphate.
The Christian shops in the Christian Quarter of Damascus are mainly located on the north-south Bab Touma Street.
You can only see this sight in the Christian Quarter of Damascus, where monasteries and churches are built side by side. The minaret and the cross stand next to each other, specifically at the St. Paul Franciscan Church and the Omayyad Mosque on Bab Touma Street.
On Bab Touma Street in the Christian Quarter, there are restaurant bars with traditional music performances at night, which is hard to find in the western part of the Old City.
Summary: The eastern side of the UNESCO-listed old city of Damascus contains a long-standing Christian quarter with churches, alleys, shops, and Christmas decorations. This travel account preserves the source's route, neighborhood details, holiday atmosphere, food, and photographs.
In the eastern part of the ancient World Heritage city of Damascus, there is an old Christian quarter. It is divided into the Bab Tuma area in the northeast and the Bab Sharqi area in the east. This area is full of churches and many restaurants and shops run by Christians. You can even find places that sell alcohol and tattoo parlors. The streets here are relatively clean and tidy, which is very different from the busy markets in the western part of the old city.
I arrived in Damascus in December, and the Christian quarter had a very strong Christmas atmosphere. The Saint George Cathedral of the Syriac Orthodox Church hosts a Christmas market every night, and everyone is welcome to join.
Since 1959, the Saint George Cathedral in Damascus has served as the seat of the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, making it a very important site. The Syriac Orthodox Church holds to Miaphysitism. Its patriarch was removed by the Christian church in 518, and it gradually formed an independent church after that.
The seat of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch was originally near the ancient city of Mardin in southeastern Turkey. It moved to Homs, Syria, after 1933, and then to the Saint George Cathedral in Damascus in 1959. Its followers are mainly in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and India, with others scattered across Europe, America, and Oceania.
It is written that one should never forget the 1915 Ottoman genocide of the Assyrians. This was carried out by the Ottoman army and Kurdish tribes in the border region between Turkey and Iran during World War I, and Turkey still avoids this issue today.
Youths from the Syriac Orthodox Church celebrate Christmas inside the cathedral.
Besides the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church in Damascus also held a Christmas market at the Saint Theresa Church in the old Christian quarter.
The Chaldean Catholic Church is one of 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that use Eastern Christian rites but are in communion with the Pope. Its believers are mainly Assyrians, mostly living in northern Iraq. The Chaldean Catholic Church can be traced back to the Church of the East (Nestorianism). After the Church of the East was considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church in 431, the two remained divided. More than a thousand years later, in 1552, some members of the Church of the East from the border of Turkey and Iran opposed the hereditary system of the patriarchate. They elected another patriarch and went to Rome to discuss communion with the Pope. In 1553, the Pope in Rome appointed the first patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Over the next few centuries, the relationship between the Chaldean Catholic Church and Rome was on and off, often reverting to the Church of the East, until it finally entered into communion with the Catholic Church in 1830.
The road in front of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition inside the East Gate of Damascus must have the best Christmas decorations in the old city, and many young people come here to take photos.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus is the headquarters of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church that follows the Byzantine rite but is in communion with the Roman Curia. The church can be traced back to Greek-speaking Christians living in the Middle East during the Roman period. When Middle Eastern Christianity split in 451, they accepted the authority of the Council and the Byzantine Empire. In 1729, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church broke away from Constantinople and entered into communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
The Armenian Apostolic Church inside the East Gate of Damascus; Armenians arrived in Damascus during the Umayyad Caliphate.
The Christian shops in the Christian Quarter of Damascus are mainly located on the north-south Bab Touma Street.
You can only see this sight in the Christian Quarter of Damascus, where monasteries and churches are built side by side. The minaret and the cross stand next to each other, specifically at the St. Paul Franciscan Church and the Omayyad Mosque on Bab Touma Street.
On Bab Touma Street in the Christian Quarter, there are restaurant bars with traditional music performances at night, which is hard to find in the western part of the Old City.
